A DENTIST yesterday admitted that he had acted inappropriately when he fully opened all the buttons on a trainee dental nurse’s tunic but he strongly denied that his motivation was sexual.
The dentist, John Tait (58), Glen House, Upper Rochestown, Cork, was speaking at an appeal against his conviction for indecent assault. The appeal case is taking place at Cork Circuit Court.
He told the court he was simply being “fastidious” when he opened all four buttons in the young woman’s tunic despite knowing after opening the top two buttons that she wasn’t wearing a T-shirt under the tunic.
Mr Tait told the court yesterday that he accepted that his opening of the woman’s tunic was “inappropriate”.
When asked why by prosecution solicitor Frank Nyhan he replied, “because of what happened to me subsequently over the 2½ years”.
Earlier, Mr Tait told his barrister, Don McCarthy, that “in no way was it a sexual assault – that was not intended at all – of course in hindsight, it was imprudent and inappropriate and I have total regret and have had for 2½ years. It has devastated my family life.”
The young trainee dental nurse said that Mr Tait had asked her to come in early to work at his surgery at St Patrick’s Terrace, Douglas in Cork, on June 16th, 2008, at about 8am and they were alone in the surgery when she went to put on the new tunic she had got.
She said that she was facing Mr Tait behind the reception area when he began opening her tunic. “He opened all the buttons and he exposed me and he wasn’t looking at the fabric – he was looking at my bra and breasts . . . I said ‘stop’,” said the woman.
At the end of yesterday’s hearing, Judge Seán Ó Donnabhain said he would adjourn the matter for a week to allow Mr Tait to call a dental nurse who was working with him at the time, to hear whether or not she was present at the time of the incident as this was disputed by both prosecution and defence.
